I posted this question in the Home Improvement section of BBR.com. A couple of members directed me to this site, so here I am.

Basically I am moving into a new house next week. We have hardwood floors throughout, except for the bathrooms. By my estimate, these floors haven't been refinished in at least a decade. High traffic areas like the stairs are worn right down to the bare wood. Since we have large rugs that we will be covering the floors with, we don't want to hire anyone refinish the floors. It will just be a waste of money.

Currently, the floors all have a clear poly on them. The plan we came up with was to just buy some more poly, add a little bit of a tint to it and then just apply it as a new topcoat. It doesn't need to look amazing. We just want to protect what we already have and spruce it up a little. Does this sound like a good idea? Also, we really don't want to waste time sanding (over 2000 sq ft!!). The most we would do is a very light sanding, but would that even be worth it? We're hoping that the dark tint will help cover up the imperfections. Please share your thoughts. Just keep in mind that it doesn't need to look amazing because we will be covering everything with area rugs.

Thanks a lot!!

here is my tip for you...

Either do it all correctly with a pro or do nothing..

because if what you attempt (not knowing the true history of the floor) fails, you will be doing it over anyway..

Buffing the floor and re coating may help to a point but it will do nothing for areas that are worn to bare wood. The bare wood areas are now polished and will continue to appear as though bare even with additional finish put on them

Thats probably what everyone else that lived there prior to you said about refinishing the floors correctly. Either do it now before you move in or you'll most likely never do it. Do it right or don't do it at all and throw a rug over it.

Halo,

What you plan to do requires that you first clean the floor really well so there is no contamination on the excisting finish present, next abrade the excisting finish completely dull with 180 grit sandpaper. This is the minimal prep to make it work.

The steps must be sanded down to fresh wood to make it look good.

Only then can you apply a coat of poly, if you skip anything it will peel!

Johannes.